ALLEN : mammalia: murid^. 49 



" The tail is very long and but scantily haired ; on the upperside the 

 scales are grey and the hairs dark reddish brown, on the lower the scales 

 are pale yellow and the hairs white ; along the centre of the underside, 

 however, there is a distinct narrow line of dark-brown hairs, contrasting 

 with the white ones on either side. 



" The ears possess, at about one third the height of the inner margin, a 

 small projecting lobule, which seems to be present in many species of this 

 genus, and to be well worthy of notice, as being very constant in the 

 species in which it is found. The foot-pads are small but distinct, and 

 the surface of the palms and the distal half of the soles are coarsely 

 granulated, as shown in the woodcut. 



"The skull is that of a typical Hesperomys, but shows only a very faint 

 trace of the supraorbital ridges supposed to be characteristic of the sub- 

 genus Calomys, to which, however, the species undoubtedly belongs, as 

 proved by its long tail and murine form. 



"The following are the dimensions of the two spirit specimens, both 

 of which are adult males : 



a. b. 



Inches. Inches. 



Length of head and body 4.3 4.2 



Length of tail 6.4 6. i 



Length of head 1.4 



Length of ear 0.55 o. 5 3 



Length of hind foot without claws 1.3 1.22 



Distance from muzzle to ear-orifice i .08 



" Measurements of skull of b : 



Inch. 



Length 1.2 



Breadth 0.65 



Breadth between orbits o. 16 



Length of nasals 0.4 



Length of lower jaw from condyle to tip of incisors 0.76 



" The species to which H. coppingeri appears most nearly allied are H. 

 lutescens, Gay, and H. philippii, Landb., both from Chili. The first, how- 

 ever, is much larger, being 5.7 inches in length, while its tail is only as 

 long as the trunk. Moreover the skull, as figured by Gay, possesses 

 strong supraorbital ridges, while our three specimens of H. coppingeri, as 

 stated above, show but little trace of them. H. philippii, though some- 

 what similar in size and colour, may be readily distinguished by the ex- 



